If You Need Me
by PinkyKupkake
Summary: Winter Caytlin Valentine had it all. But her life gets turned upside down when she's forced to move in with her cousin in Lima, Ohio. Can anyone save her?
1. Chapter 1

"Mom no! Please...Mom..." I begged but her face didn't change.

"I'm sorry Cay. I wish I didn't have to do this to you, but we just have no choice. With your Dad's new promotion and my new job, we just can't have you around. It wouldn't be fair to you. We'd never be able to get you to your play practices, or your Glee Club meetings...but you'll go live with your Aunt Carole, Finn, and Aunt Carole's new husband and stepson in Lima. It's gonna be okay. Finn says there's a great Glee Club at William McKinley High."

I tried to hold back the tears, but they stubbornly came bursting out. My whole life was falling apart. I had it all. A perfect home in LA, great parents, not to mention talent...enough of it to be involved in many different acting and singing programs. But all that would going to be gone in a matter of days. Somewhere, my parents decided that their careers were more important to them than I was. I was leaving. I was going to Lima, Ohio. AKA The Middle of Nowhere. This was terrible.

"Oh Cay," my mom sighed and pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry. It's going to be okay. I promise." I felt a little better for a moment until she abruptly pushed me away. "Oh sweetie. You're staining my shirt. It's brand new. No more tears now. Let's go. Chin up!" She continued to mumbled random words of inspiration as she wandered away, typing something on her Blackberry.

I sank down to the ground, crying. I tried to picture my new life. I didn't know Aunt Carole and Finn very well. I must have been four or five years old when I last saw them. I remembered them as nice people. I could remember stacking blocks with Finn. Whenever Finn got his blocks up really high, I would knock them down. Looking back, I guess I felt bad. After all, Finn never did anything mean to me. I knew Aunt Carole had gotten married recently, and I had no clue what her new husband and stepson were like. With my luck, they'd probably hate me. It seemed these days everyone hated me. The whole world was probably against me.

I texted my best friend Charlotte. I told her I was leaving. Moments later she called me. "It can't be true," she managed to squeak out before we broke down together. We spent the next hour sobbing.

Then I called my boyfriend, Tyler. At our school, we were probably the most powerful couple. He was the quarterback of the football team, and I was the most popular girl in school, because of my talent. But I knew all of that would come crashing down after this call. When I heard him pick up the phone, I burst into tears.

"No, no, Cay, it's okay," he said. I loved him but his words didn't help me much. I asked him if he'd come see me off in two days at the airport. "I can't, I have something I need to do that day," he told me after a moment of silence. We were both silent for a moment, and then we said our goodbyes.

Two days later, I stood in the airport with a few suitcases at my side, ready to board the plane. An announcer stated that it was time for the row I was in to board the plane.

"Bye Mom." I said.

"What?" my mom said, looking up from her Blackberry. "Oh, you're boarding. Ok, bye sweetheart." she said, kissing the air next to my face. "I would kiss you sweetie, but I wouldn't want to mess up my lipstick." I wanted to say something else, but her eyes were far too focused on her Blackberry.

Then I looked over to my dad. Unlike Mom, he had a look of sadness on his face. "I know I've been rough to you," he said. "But I always want you to know that I love you." I hadn't seen him like this for a while; usually he was very stern and stolid.

"I love you too," I said. He leaned up like he wanted to give me a hug, but before he could I realized that I needed to go. I ran off, leaving my old life behind me.


	2. Chapter 2

I stepped off the plane slowly. I examined the airport. People were bustling all around. Suddenly, a very friendly looking woman came running up to me and flung her arms around me.

"Oh Winter! Oh sweetheart. It's me, Aunt Carole! I bet you don't recognize me, do you? Ohh but I knew it was you! I did. I can tell because of your eyes! They've always been such a gorgeous crystal blue. You've grown so much..." she babbled on as she was hugging me. I weakly tried to hug her back, but I suddenly felt overwhelmed and homesick. My feelings, as well as Aunt Carole's rant, were interrupted by a tall teenage boy.

"Mom, you're scaring her." Aunt Carole pulled away.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie. You must be overwhelmed. Do you remember Finn?" she asked.

"It's ok, I, uh, well I know...I think...no. No, not really. Sorry Finn." I stuttered, sounding like a complete idiot.

"It's ok, I don't recognize you either." Finn awkwardly stood in front of me. I could tell he was trying to decide whether or not to hug me. It was awkward to look up at him. He was just so darn tall. I was saved by Aunt Carole.

"So how have you been, Winter?"

"Cay." I said, partly without realizing who I was talking to.

"What, sweetie?"

"Oh...oh sorry. No, uh, most people call me Cay. You...uh...don't have to if you don't want to..." I trailed off.

"Of course! Cay it is." Aunt Carole smiled. "Let's go get your luggage, shall we? We should get home for you to meet Burt and Kurt."

I almost asked who Burt and Kurt were, but then I realized it must have been Aunt Carole's new husband and son. Aunt Carole walked far ahead, leaving Finn and I behind. We walked in awkward silence. I was gathering that Finn was a very awkward person. He had always been very kind to me when we were little, but I had no idea what he was like now. But then again, he had more reason to be afraid of me. He probably still remembered me as the girl who knocked down his blocks.

"So, you'll be going to my school." Finn said.

"Is the school ok?"

"I guess so. Beware of slushies." Finn laughed. I didn't get the joke, so therefore didn't laugh. Finn coughed, and continued his sentence. "You're joining Glee Club, right?"

"I guess. I mean, I have the..." I almost said "talent", and then stopped myself. I didn't need to come across as a jerk.

"The what?" Finn asked.

"Nothing." I said.

The ride home was mostly in silence, besides Aunt Carole babbling. Honestly, I wasn't paying attention to most of what she was saying. All I could focus on was staring out the window and feeling sorry for myself. Just from seeing the scenery of Lima, I could tell I wasn't going to like it here. There was nothing there was back home. It was just all different. I wanted to go home, to all the places and people I knew and loved.

When we arrived at Aunt Carole and Finn's house, a tall man opened the door.

"Ah, this must be Winter. I'm Burt."

"Burt, it's Cay." Aunt Carole interrupted

"What?" Burt looked confused.

"She likes to be called Cay." It was at that moment that I realized I had made a bad choice by correcting Aunt Carole when she called me Winter. Sure, I hated being called Winter, but everyone back home knew I was Cay. Nobody had to be corrected ten million times to finally get my name right.

"Well then Cay it is." Burt smiled. "Now let's see where Kurt is..."

I couldn't help but smile realizing that "Burt" and "Kurt" rhymed. That was actually pretty cute. Maybe Aunt Carole didn't marry such a bad guy.

Suddenly, a fairly small teenage boy seemed to appear from out of nowhere.

"Cay, this is Kurt." Aunt Carole said. I looked at the boy. He had a very feminine appearance. I immediately felt guilty for thinking that. What mattered was on the inside, right?

"Hi." I said weakly. I was angry at myself. Usually I made such a huge first impression on people. Usually not a good one. I was known for having a rather fiesty personality. And now the best I could come up with was "hi"? Nice job, Cay.

"Well hello." Kurt said. "You're going to be going to school with us? We'll have to do something about those clothes."

"I'm sorry, what?" I was shocked at his comment. "These clothes happen to be from the top designers in LA..."

"Well at William McKinley High, they'll get slushied. But don't worry, we can go shopping. Bonding time." Kurt giggled.

I stared at him. I had so many questions just from that one sentence. But the first one that came to mind was, "What the hell is with the slushie thing?"

"You'll find out." Finn said.

Great. I couldn't wait.

"Well let's not overwhelm Cay now. Let's get her settled in her room and then we can have some dinner. Sounds good?" Aunt Carole asked.

"I, uh, I guess." I said.

And with that, Aunt Carole hurried me and my suitcases off into the house.


End file.
